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Sunday: Europe's Best Cathedrals, FW. De Klerk's faith, and could Joe Biden be banned from Communion?

14/11/2021

Europe's Best Cathedrals, FW. De Klerk's faith, and could Joe Biden be banned from Communion?

BBC Radio 4 - Sunday, Europe's Best Cathedrals, FW. De Klerk's faith, and could Joe Biden be banned from Communion?

William Crawley explores the week's religious and ethical news.

With thousands of migrants stranded in freezing temperatures, we explore the humanitarian crisis unfolding on Poland's border with Belarus. Wojciech Wilk from the Polish Centre for International Aid gives the picture on the ground and journalist Jonathan Luxmoore explains local Church leaders' response.   

To mark Remembrance Day, our reporter Vishva Samani joins a group of British Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims as they uncover forgotten stories of sacrifice and valour from their own communities. 

Could the US President be banned from receiving Communion? Some Catholic Bishops are unhappy that Joe Biden, a practising Catholic, supports abortion rights and believe he and other Pro-Choice politicians should be denied the central sacrament of their Chuch. Will a new Church document agree? William explores the issue with Social Justice Campaigner Sister Simone Campbell and Ed Condon, Editor of the Catholic website ‘The Pillar’.  

FW. De Klerk was the last leader of apartheid South Africa and the man who freed Nelson Mandela from jail. Following his death this week, William asks if FW. De Klerk’s personal faith can help us make sense of his complex story. We hear from Saul Dubow, Smuts Professor of Commonwealth History at Cambridge University and the Very Reverend Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester Cathedral. 

And listeners share what makes their local Cathedral so special - from West Wales to Orkney - as we go on a journey through those magnificent structures that have withstood centuries and still provide focal points in times of national crisis and celebration. Simon Jenkins, Author of ‘Europe’s 100 Best Cathedrals’, shares his favourites too. 

Producers: Jill Collins and Louise Clarke-Rowbotham

Editor: Helen Grady

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Europe's Best Cathedrals, FW. De Klerk's faith, and could Joe Biden be banned from Communion?

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